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07/31/2015

Growing up in Southern California, Spanish was as familiar-sounding as surfing slang. And like the surfers' language, I have yet to understand more than few words in Spanish. With the majority of my friends having been Latino and living in predominately Mexican-American neighborhoods for nearly four decades, I figured I'd become bilingual through osmosis.

In high school's Intro to Spanish class, I discovered I could read the language and quickly translate written words to English. I was so good at this, the teacher accused me of already knowing Spanish and was taking her class for an easy A. I dropped out of high school a few weeks later, proving her accusation false. (I entered an independent studies program).

In my late twenties, I enrolled in a Spanish 100 course in college. Once again, I could read & translate words effortlessly in my head; however, I was extremely self-conscious about pronouncing the words aloud. I ended up dropping the class.

Recently there was a lot of discussion and debate over cultural identity. During the Rachel Dolezal debacle, social media was in a frenzy ridiculing individuals who identify with a race other than his or her own. Some of the comments were reminiscent of remarks directed at me as someone who has — from a very young age — felt more connected and comfortable with a cultural ethnicity other than that I was born into. I never lied about it, though. I simply stated I was a Latina trapped in a white girl's body.

All of the controversy reminded me that I am still not able to communicate in the language of the culture that I hold close to my heart, makes up part of my daughter's genealogy, and now has become the ethnic majority here in California.

I'm confident I will never be fluent in Spanish (or maybe I'll be as good at it as English, which isn't saying much); however, it's important to me that I can at least understand it verbally and can respond in writing, if necessary. There are some minor language differences between Spain and Mexico (and other Spanish-speaking countries), but overall, the variations aren't so extreme that you wouldn't be able to get your message across. So with that mind, I searched my bookmarks to find the five FREEA+ sites to learn Spanish on-line.

1. BBC - MI VIDA LOCAI'm starting to believe the Brit's do everything better: news, craft magazines, humor, gun control.The BBC had an awesome languages feature on their site, and even though it's archived and no longer updated, the lessons are still available. Start at the main Spanish page to get familiar with the resources, then click on Mi Vida Loca.

Mi Vida Loca is an interactive learning video drama filled with intrigue, mystery and adventure as you fend for yourself in Madrid and beyond in 22, ten-minute episodes covering basic learning points for absolute beginners. A learning section complements each episode. Practice the vocabulary, grammar and activities at your own pace. You could complete the course in twelve weeks!

2. ANNENBERG LEARNER - DESTINOS

Years ago, my favorite soap opera was Santa Barbara. I may have found the substitute to fill the hole in my heart that has existed since Santa Barbara signed off: Destinos.

Destinos premiered in 1992, and soon became the "most popular Spanish learning series ever." The description of Destinos is best summed up straight from the site:

"In Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish, lawyer Raquel Rodríguez travels to Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and finally to Mexico, all to solve a secret from Don Fernando's past. Destinos is in conversational Spanish, with some narration in English and in Spanish. Every episode covers new grammatical concepts, vocabulary, and cultural practices, with a review at the end. As you go from episode to episode and destination to destination, the content grows more challenging. For additional review, choose a related activity in the Practice section."

3. DOULINGO - LEARN A LANGUAGE FOR FREE. FOREVER.

Doulingo is a great discovery! It's like if Fitbit were a video game for your brain! Start the fun and games and immersion in Spanish here! You can also become friends with me on the site to play and compete with! In addition to the web, Duolingo is also available on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone.

Don't let the neat, clean landing page fool you! 1...2...3 is how quickly you're going to realize what a lucky break you got in finding out about this site and its plethora of resources! It is packed with interactive games, audio files, videos, visuals, lessons, quizzes, general and niche courses. Settle in and immerse yourself in Spanish!

Don't forget to follow and Like these individual sites on Twitter and Facebook! Word-of-mouth and donations help to keep these sites updated and free! Thanks to the team behind all of 'em!

07/30/2015

Sitting here at the craft table on Wednesday morning waiting for the heatwave that's expected to come on strong in the next couple of hours. It's forecast to last well into next week. Factor in high humidity, dry conditions, and fire season, it's no wonder these extreme SoCal warm-ups stress me out. But this monsoonal flow is being influenced by the phenomenon that is predicted to be unlike anything we have seen in about eighteen years: El Niño.

Yes, winter is coming.

There's a lot of excitement (and apprehension) in the air over the possibility of large amounts of water falling from the sky this winter — especially on the heels of our historic drought. And while I am worried about Apocalyptic-like precipitation, I'm mostly giddy with anticipation!

Before we can rejoice in rainy days and McCafe lattes, we still have to get through August, then bask in the glory that is Autumn. For now, it's back to summer...bummer.

My Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder (<--- please read that carefully before suggesting light therapy), is making it's annual appearance. Fortunately, it happening now that I am feeling more settled in at our new place — with air-conditioning. Plus, I had my anti-anxiety medication prescription filled! So I'm hoping to just chill, be creative, and continue to work towards getting two business endeavors off-the-ground by fall!

Do you have Summer S.A.D. too? Live like a vampire three months out of the year? What are some ways you deal with that orb ogre in the sky? Share in comments below!

It was while awake in the middle of the night, feeling frustrated that my muse had forsaken me, that a brilliant business idea popped into my head! The kind that comes along once in a blue moon — or with the right amount of medicinal marijuana (so I've been told).

This secret-for-now collection is comprised of several passions colliding. Even though it's going to be targeted towards a particular audience, it will also appeal to customers who simply appreciate the beauty of the handiwork.

The theme is one of my favorite interests, the scale is easy on my body, and the craft involves techniques I have wanted to try since first picking up a hook and needles. Few of the items I'll be making for the collection were always in the back of my mind and have sparked inspiration for my own projects in the past. This time it was the perfect storm of creativity and marketing ideas swirling around in my head for me to imagine a business model.

It would be great to find artistic and financial success with this fun, new spin on a very classic essential!